The Shadow of Death
by Blitz
Summary: This is an adaptation of the X-Men 2 prequel comic book starring everyone's favorite blue, fuzzy elf. Let's pray - Nightcrawler style - I don't get sued.
1. Part 1

First things first - the disclaimer. This is a little different than my other disclaimers, because, well, I didn't actually "write" this story. Well, yes, I wrote it, but it's not my plot. Everything is Marvel's. Amanda belongs to Marvel, Margali belongs to Marvel, the Norris belongs to Marvel, and, of course, Nightcrawler belongs to Marvel. The story is a re-telling of the comic book prequel for "X2: X-Men United". I changed everything in there into a fanfic because I wanted to write a sequel to the movie and I needed to make sure everyone knew Kurt's background before I wrote and posted that.  
  
So technically Marvel could sue me. But that would be pointless. Let's say they do take the little money I have, then what? Then I won't be able to buy more comics and I most likely won't get more money. Even if I do, I'll be very displeased with Marvel and I won't buy anymore of their comics. They won't get any more money from me. I'm poor, they're poor, I'm unhappy, they're unhappy, nobody wins. So let's just keep it kosher and stay away from all this suing business.  
  
And pick up the "Official Comic Book Prequel: X-Men 2 - Nightcrawler"! It's a good read.  
  
So here it is. The prequel to "X2" - Fuzzy Elf style.  
  
Time to getcho fic on!  
  
  
  
The Shadow of Death  
  
Writer - Chuck Austen  
Editor - Mike Marts  
Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada  
Adapter - Blitz  
  
  
  
  
My God, my God, look upon me;  
why hast thou forsaken me?  
and art so far from my health and from the words of my complaint?  
O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not;  
and in the night season also I take no rest.  
  
- Psalm 22:1-2  
  
Part 1  
  
  
"It's only a show. Entertainment," he kept telling himself. It was only a bit of fun. He was not demeaning himself by doing this. He was only adding to the experience with his ... _uniqueness_.  
  
That's what he repeated to himself as a wrapped his fingers and toes around a pole jutting up over a hundred feet from the ground in the circus tent. His gleaming yellow eyes watched the show below, listening for his cues, his gaze locked on the pretty young woman, shrouded in white robes, clutching a cross as she knealt before an altar with five others behind her, dressed similarly. "Oh, Heavenly Father, I offer myself to you, your humble servant to do your bidding," she declared. "Show me the way, Oh Lord. Send me a sign."  
  
A demon leapt down onto the altar cross, small horns poking through his scalp, a tail whipping madly behind him. The glittering yellow eyes flashed as he howled, "God has abandoned you, woman! God has abandoned you all!" in a dramatic, theatrical voice.  
  
"Noo!" the young woman screamed in horror. "It cannot be true!"  
  
"But it is true, woman!" he growled, grabbing her white robes with one, three-fingered hand and pulling her closer so he could look into her grass-green eyes. "Now, really," he hissed menacingly. "Do I look like someone who would lie to you?"  
  
"But he - " She stopped suddenly, the fear on her face giving way to confused irritation. In a voice too low for anyone but the blue man in front of her to hear, she whispered, "Heeeey ... that's not how the script goes, Kurt."  
  
"It is today, Amanda," he grinned, baring his fangs. "It is today!" He bounded into the air, a pitchfork in one hand, Amanda in the other. Below, the audience gasped.  
  
"Waah!" Amanda screamed. Her hood flew back on her head, revealing short red hair. "Oh, God. You take my breath away every time you do that."  
  
"I live to take your breath away, Amanda," he said as he bounded from bar to bar, taking a moment to look into her eyes again.  
  
"You ... you do?" She furrowed her brow. "What's gotten into you tonight, Kurt?"  
  
Ignoring her, Kurt continued with his lines. "God shall not have you, oh beauteous one!" he bellowed to the heavens. "Not this night, nor any other!" He caught another trapeze and wrapped his two-toed feet around it, using one arm to support Amanda so she wouldn't fall. "Tonight, you belong to the Devil!" His laugh sounded little more than a hideous howl.  
  
At the sidelines, an attractive young man held his trapeze, awaiting his cue. His blonde hair was swept back to reveal two, crystal-blue eyes. Angel wings grew out of his back, but those were only an illusion, as was everything else in the show. Almost everything else. "Kurt's ad-libbing again," he complained. "How am I supposed to know when my cue is up if he's ad-libbing? I'm gonna get all mixed up."  
  
"Relax, Werner," another "angel" told him. "You'll be fine. Your cue should be the swing-out, anyway."  
  
As he said, this, Kurt Wagner, the Incredible Nightcrawler, gave the line Werner was waiting for as he and Amanda sailed through the air, swinging from the trapeze. "Yes, it's true, ladies and gentlemen. The Devil is a real swinger!" The audience groaned.  
  
"Help me, Oh Lord!" the young woman cried out. "Send me an Angel!"  
  
"Hey!" The blue demon reached for her. "Where do you think you're going, lady?! I'm not finished with you yet! Come on, baby! Don't you know sinners have more fun?!" The audience laughed and the girl struggled to get out of his grip. The bar tipped forward and the ropes it was attached to twirled and jolted. Amanda's bare feet slipped and skidded on the smooth plastic as she tried to get out of his grasp. "You haven't lived until you've loved a guy with a tail!"  
  
Amanda lost her balance and plummeted head downward to the circus floor.  
  
"Amanda!" he screamed, losing character in the heat of the moment. The audience gasped once more in horror.  
  
"I can't reach her!" Werner yelled out.  
  
Kurt watched her fall, screaming. The nets hadn't been rolled out yet and Amanda was out of reach for the other acrobats.  
  
"Oh, no!" Kurt hissed to himself. "He missed her!"  
  
There was the BAMF! of imploding air and suddenly the blue demon was gone. "That demon vanished!" someone yelled.  
  
"Quick, catch her!"  
  
BAMF!   
  
"It reappeared!"  
  
Kurt appeared just below Amanda as she hurtled downward. He wrapped every limb around her. "I've got you, Amanda!" There was the sickening thud of flesh on concrete as Kurt hit the ground and Amanda landed on top of him.  
  
"I - I don't think this was part of the show ... " a mother said, leading her young son out of the circus tent.  
  
The man next to her jumped up with the rest of the audience members. "Somebody call an ambulance!"  
  
The rest of the cast members gathered around the two fallen performers. Neither one of them moved. They looked as if they were dead.  
  
***  
  
"That was a stupid, stupid thing you did, Kurt. Stupid."  
  
A small tent had been erected before the start of the show. A cot sat at the opposite wall, covered in pillows. In one corner rested a first-aid box. The tent was used as a small, make-shift hospital, but Margali, the owner of the circus, had hoped they wouldn't need it tonight.  
  
"What were you thinking? Hunh? You can't change the cues in the middle of a performance!" she scolded him, strong arms crooked to place strong fists on her hips. "Especially when the net hasn't been rolled out yet! You've been with my circus since I found you as a baby, Kurt ... you should know better."  
  
"I said I was sorry, Margali," the "demon" murmured. The horns had been removed while he had been receiving medical attention, but he still wore the black and red devil suit. He stared down at his feet, unable to meet Margali's gaze.  
  
Margali was beautiful, despite her age. Time had been kind to her. The only wrinkles on her tired face were the ones that rested just beneath her eyes from nights spent awake, caring for two children, one of which seemed to insist on being awake all hours of the night. She had soft, silky hair, a little lighter than Amanda's, tied back in a bandana and a wide, red mouth. She was a woman who had worked hard her whole life to get where she was today, and a woman who would have to continue to work hard for her remaining years. She commanded respect from her co-workers and family alike, but was not without compassion.  
  
Margali noted the shame on Kurt's face and her tone softened, though it was still angry. She still doubted whether Kurt fully understood what he had done. "Sorry isn't enough," she said. "You're like a son to me, Kurt ... and a brother to Amanda. And I don't mean to be harsh, but you've broken some ribs, and it might be a whole month before you can perform again. The circus needs you." She tried to look him in the eye, but he kept his sight trained on his feet. "Why would you do such a thing?" she asked, resting a hand comfortingly on his shoulder.  
  
"I don't know Margali, I - " He lifted his head a little to speak to her, and when he did, he noticed to people outside the tent - one man wearing angel wings and a girl in flowing white robes. He stopped for a moment to watch them.  
  
"Are you sure you're all right, Amanda?" He had asked that question many times since she had woken up.  
  
"Yes, Werner," she said, embracing him and holding her cheek against his chest. "I am now ... "  
  
"I guess I thought - " Kurt broke his stare and lowered his sight from Amanda to Margali's knees and muttered - "the devil made me do it."  
  
"Oh, Kurt," Margali cooed, taking his hand and putting her hand on his back. "Whatever's bothering you ... it'll work itself out. I promise."  
  
***  
  
In the small town, a few miles from the residential area, a church had been built. It was old, but sturdy, and bigger than many other churches that were often built in small towns. Kurt had found himself in here after Margali had left his bedside. Though it hurt to walk, he had to leave the confines of the circus.  
  
'I love God,' he thought to himself. 'I have to.' He gazed up at the crucifix, his eyes fixed on the Son of God nailed to it. 'Without a belief in His divine plan for us all, a mutant like me, a person born with strange and very unhuman like powers would have no reason to go on. Without God's love - '  
  
"Kurt?" a soft, feminine voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are you all right."  
  
"I - yes ... I'm fine, Amanda," he said, turning halfway to look at her. "Just embarassed is all. How did you know I'd be here?" In his mind, his thoughts continue. 'Without a belief that God loves me, and has a purpose for me, what else could there be for me in life?' As he stared back at Amanda, he thought to himself, 'If God wasn't there to love me, who else would?'  
  
Amanda grinned playfully back at him. At least she wasn't angry like everyone else seemed to be. But then again, Amanda never seemed to be angry with him for long. "Old theaters, old movies, or the nearest church," she said wryly. "You're sort of predictable that way."  
  
"I suppose I am ... " he grinned back at her, " ... I'll have to be more impulsive in the future."  
  
"No! Please ... " Amanda laughed jovially. "I've had enough of your spontaneity for one day!"  
  
Kurt remembered why he had escaped to the church in the first place and put a three-fingered hand to his forehead. "I'm so sorry, Amanda. I don't know what got into me - "  
  
Amanda's smile disappeared only to be replaced by a new, gentler one. "I do," she answered, catching Kurt off gaurd for a moment. "You made it very clear."  
  
Before Kurt knew what was happening, Amanda's lips were locked to his. Slowly, he shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. When she finally pulled away, smiling softly back at him, he said, "Amanda, this is too good to be true."  
  
"Before today," she explained, "you never let me know how you really felt. And besides, ever since Mother found you alone and abandoned as a baby, you always seemed to think of me as a sister."  
  
Kurt brushed his hands through her red hair. "I never thought of you as a sister, Amanda," he said quietly, his yellow eyes locked on hers. "I ... I just always assumed you thought of me as a monster."  
  
"Oh, my sweet Kurt," Amanda smiled, holding his hands to her face. "Never, never, never." Suddenly, her tone changed. "Come on. Let's go. Let's leave together. Now."  
  
"Leave? Why? Why can't we stay with Margali and the circus and just be together?"  
  
"Because ... " Amanda paused, wondering if she should continue. She was about to say something Kurt would not want to hear and she would not want to say. But she kept talking. It needed to be said. "Mother would never approve and you know it. She loves you as an adopted child, loves you as a son ... but never as a son-in-law. It was her idea to put you in that devil costume, Kurt ... how do you think she truly feels about you?"  
  
Kurt backed away from Amanda and crouched down, as he often did when he chose to sit. "I know it was her idea ... but I never thought of it as a 'racist' thing. Or an anti-mutant thing," he said. He did not want to hear these words about Margali, though he had often wondered them many times before. "That somehow she might think less of me."  
  
"You should hear the things she says about you when you're not around," she pressed.  
  
"No ... no I can't believe - "  
  
"But it's true. It is. She tells me things she would never tell you," she said, trying to force him to believe her. She stepped closer to him, resting a head on his shoulder as he put an arm around her lovingly. "Let's go away, Kurt. Now. Together." And, as a final afterthought, "Don't you want to be with me?"  
  
"Oh God, Amanda, yes," he said, pulling her close. "I want that more than anything."  
  
The two stood for a moment, the stained glass window behind them haloing their forms before they left the church, walking away from the town, away from the circus, away from Margali and all those who would oppose their match and their love.  
  



	2. Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I don't own Marvel Comics, I don't own "X2: X-Men United", I don't own the comics based off of the movie - hell, I don't even own this plot. This is just an adaptation, word for word. Actually, the some of the only original parts of this fic are the title and the psalms I added into the beginning of each chapter.  
  
Summary: The prequel to the movie. This is what happened before Nightcrawler attacked the president. This doesn't only contain spoilers, it _is_ a spoiler. Just one big spoiler. So be warned.  
  
Get ready for angstiness people.  
  
  
  
The Shadow of Death  
  
Writer - Chuck Austen  
Editor - Mike Marts  
Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada  
Adapter - Blitz  
  
  
  
  
Turn to me and be gracious to me,   
for I am lonely and afflicted.   
The troubles of my heart have multiplied;   
free me from my anguish.   
Look upon my affliction and my distress   
and take away all my sins.   
See how my enemies have increased   
and how fiercely they hate me!  
Guard my life and rescue me;   
let me not be put to shame,   
for I take refuge in you.  
May integrity and uprightness protect me,   
because my hope is in you.   
  
-Psalm 25:16-21  
  
  
Part 2  
  
  
The moon was glowing high in the sky over the travelling Canadian circus and Margali was getting ready to retire to bed. But first she had to find someone. She approached her trailer. There was a light on, but perhaps she had left it on when she'd gone to see Kurt in the medical tent. She turned the handle and pulled the door open. For a second she jumped, then emotion and disgust took hold of her. "Oh, for crying out loud," she complained, glaring at her daughter who was stradling a man in one of Margali's swivel chairs. Margali thanked God that they were both still clothed, though both their shirts were hanging loosely off of them. "Have you no shame, Amanda?"  
  
"Mother, really," Amanda said angrily, her arms still draped around Werner's neck as they had been before Margali had interrupted their passion. "Does the word 'knock' mean nothing to you?"  
  
"Do the words 'this is my trailer' mean nothing to _you_?" She didn't have time for this. Maybe in the morning she would discuss with Amanda the importance of finding more private places to "express her love", but right now she needed to find Kurt. "Have you seen Kurt anywhere? I can't seem to find him around the camp."  
  
"Not since after the performance when you bandaged him up," Amanda stated truthfully. "Have you checked the local church?"  
  
"No, but I guess I should," Margali said.  
  
***  
  
The moon's light barely broke through the trees, but somehow Amanda and Kurt had managed to find their way onto a clear path. Their hands joined, the two hurried through the woods and into the night. "Are you sure there's nothing you want from the wagons, Amanda? Not even to say goodbye to your mother?" Kurt asked again.  
  
"I'll say my goodbyes when it's too late for them to change our plans."  
  
"Amanda, wait," Kurt said, stopping her.  
  
"No, Kurt, no. Keep running!"  
  
"No, just wait a second," he repeated, crouching down. "I need to know something." He took a deep breath, then continued. "You said earlier ... you said ... 'son-in-law.' Did you mean that?"  
  
"Oh, Kurt," Amanda said softly. "I've never meant anything more in my entire life."  
  
"I never ... I never imagined I'd ever hear those words from you," he said. "I love you, Amanda."  
  
"And I, you." She knealt down and leaned her face closer to his. "Kiss me ... and let me show you how much ... "  
  
***  
  
Several armed gaurds stepped out of the woodworks, aiming rifles at an oblivious Kurt Wagner. One man stood away from the group, his glasses glinting in the night, his arms crossed before him. "Disgusting," he said in a slow drawl, then, to his men, he said, "Keep in mind you're not seeing what he's seeing, men."  
  
"What is he seeing, Mr. Stryker?"  
  
Kurt put one hand behind him to support himself. Someone seemed to be pushing him backward.  
  
"Something that almost makes me wish I were being mind-controlled, apparently," Stryke muttered. "Load him into the truck before it gets to graphic. He won't feel anything. He won't even know you're there."  
  
The gaurd who had asked the first question continued talking as the others apprehended the mutant. "Is there anything we should be careful of, Mister Stryker? Anything that would disrupt whatever Mutant Twelve is doing to him?"  
  
"Other than distance," Stryker said, walking back toward the trucks, "nothing can interrupt Mutant Twelve's unique mind control abilities once they've begun ... as far as we've been able to ascertain."  
  
There was a short behind the soldier and his superior officer. "Eewww," a less mature soldier exclaimed. "He's sticking his tongue out, sir. He's tonguing the air!"  
  
The two continued with their conversation, ignoring the disgust in the other soldier's voice. "Is their a time limit, sir? When does control over the mutant's mind wear off?"  
  
Stryker smiled, a touch of malice in his face. "When I tell it to, and not before," he stated simply, returning to the truck.  
  
***  
  
Kurt awoke the next morning in the small motel room he and Amanda had spent the night in. Amanda had gotten the room and Kurt had teleported inside, warning him that a mutant might upset the man at the front desk. The room was small, but cozy a bed, carpets, a bathroom, and a bedside table, but not much else.  
  
One of Amanda's arms was over his chest and perched on his left shoulder as she rested her head on the right, gazing into his face. Clothes littered the floor along with one of the pillows. They'd restore order in the room eventually, but now they were both too happy to care about anything but each other.  
  
"I don't think I've ever been so happy," Kurt smiled, enjoying the feeling of finally being so close to Amanda.  
  
"Me either. I love you so much, Kurt."  
  
A sudden headache swarmed it's way over Kurt's skull. He jolted a bit and squeezed his eyes shut, grabbing his forehead. "Nngghh!"  
  
"Honey, what's wrong?"  
  
"I don't know, I - "  
  
But when Kurt turned to look at Amanda, she was nearly transparent and fading fast. "Amanda!" He reached out to grab her, as if by touching her he could will her back into existence, but his hand passed right through her. "Amanda?! Amaaaaanda?!" he screamed.  
  
Maybe she could still hear him. Maybe she was in another room.  
  
The motel room had faded along with his new wife. The blankets disappeared, and so did the mattress, leaving only a hard, metal cot growing out of the wall in its place. The clothing on the floor was gone and Kurt found himself wearing a pair of khakis and a collar, but nothing else. The walls melted, showing themselves to be steel. "Amaaandaaaaaaaaaa!"  
  
"Shut up, you animal," a harsh, drawling voice spoke over what must have been an intercom, though Kurt couldn't see one.  
  
"Who is that? What have you done with Amanda?!" he screamed.  
  
"Amanda's gone, Wagner." There was the sound of air compressed as the metal doors slid open, revealing the man from the forest. "And she's never coming back," he added. "Unless ... of course ... you do as you're told."  
  
"Who ... who are you?" Kurt demanded. "And what have you done with Amanda?" His yellow eyes narrowed and he clenched his fangs together. "If you've heart her in any way - "  
"When you see her again, she'll be exactly as you remember her, young Mr. Wagner," Stryker smirked. "Now, then ... instead of getting into who I am, I'd like to know more about you."  
  
Kurt crouched down, still glaring at the man. The doors hissed shut behind him and Stryker approached. "We know that you are highly agil. We know that you speak five languages, including Swedish, of all things. And we also know that you can move yourself through some kind of dimensional portal - some form of teleportation - and can cover large distances in the blink of an eye." Stryker finished his speech, the smirk growing steadily crueler. "What else do I need to know about you, Kurt?"  
  
Kurt refused to meet his gaze, but glared up at him, his hair falling in front of his face. He was contemplating. It was a futile hope, but it was worth a shot. A sudden pain shot through his body. "Aaahh!"  
  
"Let me guess ... " Stryker said, " ... you were trying to do that teleportation trick I just mentioned. I suppose something along the lines of 'to hell with this' went through your little monster mind. You figured you could locate Amanda - somehow - find an exit, and make your way to safety - until you discovered that we had considered that option, as well." Stryker peered down at Kurt, waiting for him to make the next move. "Hurts, doesn't it?" he taunted. He sat down on one of the metal beds, placing his hands on his knees.  
  
Kurt slid down against the wall, rubbing the back of his neck and lowering himself to the ground.  
  
"Now ... once again ... what other interesting mutant talents do you possess?"  
  
Kurt stared straight ahead hatefully. If he looked at Stryker, he may do something that would end up putting his - and Amanda's - life in jeopardy. He couldn't afford that. It would be best to cooperate.  
  
He raised his eyes to Stryker's. "Well," he grinned, his fangs poking out, "if you rub my belly ... my leg wiggles uncontrollably."  
  
Stryker looked at him sadly. Kurt had just made things worse for himself with his defiance. He stood up to leave, turning his back on Kurt Wagner.  
  
"What, are you leaving?" Kurt called after him. "Don't you want to give it a try?"  
  
Stryker continued out the door.  
  
"All right. Maybe later," Kurt offered. "I'm here all week." The doors hissed open and shut and Stryker was gone, leaving Kurt alone. "Wherever here is."  
  
***  
  
Margali had broken away from the rest of the workers at the circus in the hopes of gaining some solitude to clear her mind. That hadn't helped. Instead she was left with violent, paranoid thoughts surrounding the outcome of her adopted son. It had been a full two days and Kurt had no returned.  
  
"Mom? Any sign of Kurt?" her daughter asked, approached her as Margali leaned against a low tree branch, her back to the circus.  
  
"No, Amanda," she sighed, "and I'm really worried. He wasn't at the local church, and no one's seen him since just after the last performance. We've waited as long as we can. The circus has to leave for Calgary."  
  
"I'm sure he'll be all right ... " Amanda said, placing a hand on her mother's shoulder in a vain attempt to comfort her. "I know you, Mom, and I know you're imagining him dead in a ditch someplace - but don't, okay? He's probably just upset with himself over what he did, and is hiding out for a while."  
  
"Yeah," Margali nodded. "You're probably right. He's done it before." She turned slightly to look at Amanda, worry creasing her face. "There are just so many bad people out there who hate mutants ... and Kurt is as mutant as they come."  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, Kurt was knealing by his bedside, his hands clasped together and his head lowered in prayer. He was thinking of Amanda and Margali, hoping that they were safe. He never prayed for himself, only for others, only for those he loved. Questions were eating away at his mind like bullets. His only hope was to pray. Perhaps then some of his tension may be eased. "Dear Lord, hear my prayer," he murmured. "Please let Amanda be safe. And Margali, Woodhead, Chester, and all the others ... "  
  
The metal door began to beep. Someone was punching in a code. The door cut through the air as the metal slid away, making a "shoont" sound.  
  
Kurt didn't let the disturbance interrupt him. "And while you're at it," he added, "please bless these soldiers, for they know not what they do."  
  
"Put this other mutant on the cot," one of the gaurds said as a young woman wrapped in a blanket was hauled in. Her head had been shaved and her fingers were bleeding. She was barely conscious, but she looked otherwise unharmed. Kurt heard her groan.  
  
As she was handed off to the younger gaurd, the gaurd who had first spoken noticed Kurt. "What the hell are you doing, mutie?" He sounded angry, dangerous. "Are you praying?!"  
  
Kurt didn't turn around, didn't move. He made no indication that he had heard what the man had said.  
  
"No you don't! You don't pray!" the man yelled, pointing a finger at Kurt, threatening him to stop. "God doesn't listen to prayers from animals!!"  
  
Kurt adjusted his elbows on the cot, but otherwise made no movement. "And please bless Tiny Tim here, most of all - "  
  
"That's it, demon, that was a mistake!" the gaurd roared, pulling out a club. "You're a mistake! One of God's mistakes!" He took a step toward Kurt.  
  
The second gaurd turned around as he laid the young woman down on the cot to see his partner make his way towards the mutant. "Norris, no ... "  
  
"You DON'T _PRAY_!" Norris shouted, cracking the club across Kurt's face.  
  
"Norris!"  
  
"I better not catch you on your knees again, you hear me?!" his partner began shoving him out of the holding cell, looking back in horror at what Norris had done. "Not praying to my God!"  
  
"Get out of here, Norris! What the hell is wrong with you?"  
  
"Not _my _God!"  
  
But Kurt didn't hear him. The blow hadn't been enough to crack his jaw, but it had been enough to knock him out. He lay limp on the ground, unmoving. Blood pooled out of his mouth, forming a puddle around his head, spreading to his hair and around his neck and sticking to his face.  
  
***  
  
The circus had waited three days for the return of their star, but to no avail. They had waited as long as they could and now it was time to head onwards. The tents had long since been taken down and the animals were in their metal trailers hitched to trucks. Everyone was reader to go, though Margali had stalled, hoping with each passing second that the next would bring Kurt Wagner back into her life.  
  
But now she sat in her van beside her daughter, her chin perched on her fist as she gazed out the window. When she looked away, a tear made it's way slowly down her cheek. Fearing Amanda would see and note her vulnerability at that moment, Margali looked away, telling herself she was still looking for Kurt.  
  
Amanda watched her mother watching the window. She tore her eyes from her mothers saddened face. It broke her heart to see her in such a state with the knowledge that there was nothing she could do to comfort the woman who had provided so much love for her throughout her life. Amanda lifted her mother's hand and it took, giving it a loving squeeze, as if by the mere touch she could let her mother know that everything would be all right. But there was no gaurantee that things would get better and Margali, who instinctively returned the squeeze, in truth barely registering her daughter's presence.  
  
  
  
  
Please review. Please.  
  
  
  
  
Please.  



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